Shethna appointment

Justice (retd) Behram Jehanbux Shethna has been named chairman of an inquiry commission to probe and "stop” the "polarisation of the population” of different communities in Gujarat from August 15, 1947 to the present day. The commission has come in for criticism from NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and human rights activists as being aimed at harassing the minorities and blaming them for "ghettoisation,” as has She-thna’s appointment, reported The Indian Express (IE) on July 9, 2009. Senior advocate and Jan Sangharsh Manch representative Mukul Sinha has declared that he will take up the matter of the retired judge’s "questionable background” with the government.

Justice Behram Shethna: heading a commission

Shethna has been at the center of a number of controversies during his stints as judge of the Gujarat and Rajasthan high courts. Before he resigned in April 2007 he had allegedly assaulted another judge in January of that year (see "Judicial storm,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, February 21, 2007). And though he resigned more than two years ago, Shethna continues to occupy the sprawling bungalow in Ahmedabad’s Judges Colony, IE mentions. When contacted by that newspaper, a high court official responded that Justice Shethna has been given an extension to reside in the official bungalow by the previous Chief Justice of Gujarat.